The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-02-05
ENCOURAGING CRIME.
BY REV. S. CRANE, D. D.
(Galesbufg. IllJ

heN. DF. crane SaDJecG 1OT MS sun
day morning discourse, says the Gales
burg Register, was, Lessons Taught
! by the Recent CasesM EmbeZzlement." "
! His text was Prov. Y 2, "The treas
ures of wickedness profit nothing" He
began by saying thai the city had re-
Gently been painfully agitated by the
revelation of embeMlements commit
ted by young men whostood well in the
| community, a crimdfOr the peTpetra-
tion Of which their circumstances gave
no excuse. The deeds mad been aggra-
waited by the length CT time over which
they had extended, in one instance the
period covering several years, and in
the aggregate incluaing not one but
many thefts. 1t was this that made
the revelation ASTONISHING. 1t was not
the intention of tie speaker to de-
nounce the criminals, nor add to the
papgs already endured by innocent par
ties. The cases here were alluded to
as types of a very common crime, which
stir us the more because they are near
at home. Why do So many betray the
trust and confidence BESTOWED in them?
Is it because they are so much more
wicked and depraved than other peo-
pie? Not so much this as that they
take the money under the pressure of
some sudden temptation that they are
unable to resist. Removed not far
from these are many men, whom the
speaker termed an Immoral reserve,
lacking perhaps the temptation to COM
NIT the crime.
Are these crimes sporadic No, for
there exists among them all common
likeness which shows them to be the
result of common tcondition. They
are of the characterof an epidemic. 1t
looks as if the germs that produced
them are inherent IN society. They
are the eruptions that prove the exis-
tence of the internal disease. 1t is
therefore question whether or no we
are not all involved in the perpetration
of these crimes, and 30 responsible, be-
cause we are concerted in the condi-
tions of which the crime is manifes-
tation. We seldom ask to what extent
we are responsible, pr what we have
done or what we hays left undone. We
are fierce in our dendnciations and call
down fire from heagen upon the heads
of those guilty Of cl;;,se, not dreaming
that we may IN Fsssse tsssesePging Of the
same form of condemnation.
What have social, religious and busi-
ness conditions, in which we are all in
terested, had to do with these crimes,
and what can we do to prevent their re-
currence ? DR.. Crane wanted it un-
derst0od that in the choice of the Grim
inal himself lies the first and real cause
of wrong doing, and that he was not
trying to shift responsibility from where
it really belonged. His argument was
that certain conditions tend to produce
an environment in which criminality
grows; that this environment furnishes
occasions and temptations for crime,
and that for its existence society as a
whole is to blame. You go into a sa-
loon and get drunk. For this you are
to blame, but society is censurable for
furnishing you the means and oppor-
tunity. The social damnation every
where caused by the permitted traffic
is the righteous retribution of God on
society for tOlerating the evil. We are
therefore all responsible for the cOndi-
tions that provoke occasions to crime
and create vicious environment.
The condition of religion is RESPONSE
bic. In this sphere there is lack of
moral backbone in instilling the general
principles of righteousness. Reference
was not so much made to intellectual
dishonesty of preachers, who do not be-
lieve what they preach, or do not preach
what they believe, as to the neglect to
impress the moral law ON young and
susceptible minds. This law is not
taught in Sunday school as it should
be. Children are not instructed in the
ten commandments. Il do not believe
that one-half the children in our Sun
day-sehools can repeat the ten COM
mandments or say why they should be
kept" We have reversed the process.
God began with the moral law. We
put the Gospel before the law We
tell these children of sin and salvation,
before they know what sin is. A sick
ly sentimentalism about Jesus Christ
is taught. In large sense these Sun
day-schOols are mere proselyting ma
chine for the church, the object being
to make church members, to which end
the evangelist is employed, rather than
to ground the pupils in moral principles,
and to enlighten the conscience. Emo
tional piety is poor thing to fight the
devil with.
Again, in these times the prevalence
of crime is due, to some extent, to the
fact that retribution has become in re-
ligion such an uncertain quality. Hell
does not mean much. The popular pull
pit is losing its grip on retributiOn. Its
! ;J.,oI, -, Fbig anhSao+ aro foc,orvr oy,I ~,